Birdie Babies

These little ones are keeping their parents busy trying to keep up with their insatiable appetite for worms.  There were three that hatched - but only two are left. I'm amazed that any at all have survived the cold, wet, windy weather.  They are fairly exposed.  Normally the parents pick a more protected place, but we have so many robins this year that they've been building nests in unlikely places. 

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The kids found 5 robin's eggs on the ground and Leah and Meghan have been keeping them warm under the heat lamp.  I warned them that they would not likely have success in hatching them, and even if they did, catching enough worms to feed them would be a full-time job.  And even if they could keep up with that, they still would not likely survive.  Wild animals need the care that only their parents can provide for them.  The girls know all that, but they've been keeping the eggs warm, faithfully turning them every hour or so and lately, in anticipation of success, have been using their free time to dig for worms. As a parent I want to spare them from the disappointment and sadness that will inevitably come.  But to do that I would have to deprive them of the opportunity to learn and experience this for themselves.  And so we wait to see what will happen...hoping, but afraid, that they will actually hatch.